"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." —Matthew 18:20

We live in a time in which our society is becoming more and more disjointed and divided. Rather than celebrating what we have in common, it seems nowadays we emphasize the things that separate us. In fact, I don't know of a time, at least in my brief life, when our culture has been more divided (perhaps with the exception of the tumultuous 1960s).

Families are falling apart like never before, and the result is that people are looking for a place where they can belong, a community where they can feel safe, a family they can belong to . . . a place where they can genuinely love and be loved in return. And that is exactly what the church is.

I know the church is not perfect. The church is made up of imperfect people, but foibles and all, it is the only organization that Jesus Christ himself ever established. And it is still going strong.

Years ago, the Roman emperor Diocletian set up a stone pillar as a monument, boasting that he had exterminated the word "Christian" from the earth. That was the aim of Diocletian, and needless to say, he failed in his endeavor.

Any attempt that has ever been undertaken to eradicate the church that Jesus established and maintains has met with failure, because Jesus said of His church, "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). He is with His church, and it is still going strong!

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